Anti-Ma protesters mimic Shih's `siege'

People joining the silent sit-in staged by a movie producer and civic associations against Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took part in a symbolic "siege" yesterday evening at Taipei City Hall.

Mimicking anti-President Chen Shui-bian campaign leader Shih Ming-teh's (施明德) symbolic "siege" of the Presidential Office on Sept. 15, local film producer Lim It-hong (林一方) led the participants in a walk around the City Hall at 5:30pm.

The number of participants, however, was substantially smaller than in the anti-Chen "siege" last month.

Lim, the producer of Ugliness Behind the Beautiful, told the Taipei Times yesterday in a telephone interview that the march was held to "highlight the point that there should not be double standards in society."

Lim started the sit-in on Tuesday, demanding Ma apologize for allowing Shih's round-the-clock sit-in and his "poor municipal record."

The protest is being staged at the intersection between Shifu Rd and Songshou Rd and will continue until Oct. 24, with a hiatus from Monday to Friday, as the location is reserved for Double Ten National Day celebrations.

Lim added that although there were only about 80 people participating in the sit-in on Tuesday, "the number of people was not important."

"We would like to let Ma know of our requests through media coverage," he said. "We will continue applying more and more pressure on him in different ways in the following sit-ins."

Lim said that by giving permission to Shih's camp to stage around-the-clock sit-ins, Ma had set a "bad precedent."

Ma should apologize to Taipei City residents for "his cooperation with Shih" and for neglecting his municipal work, said Lin, who is currently making his movie about the 228 Incident.

If the mayor treated the "siege" against him differently from Shih's siege of the presidential building, the participants in the anti-Ma sit-in would file a suit against Ma, Lim said.